Mass Effect: Across The Stars
by PyroFx
Summary: Commander Shepard is gone. Killed in a mysterious attack on the Normandy, or was he? Spartan B312, the second and only other Spartan to receive the rating of "Hyper-Lethal", has given his life to detonate a slipspace bomb and save reach. But is he truly gone?
1. Chapter 1: Prelude

**Mass Effect: Across The Stars**

**Commander Shepard is gone. Killed in a mysterious attack on the **_**Normandy**_**, or was he? Spartan B312, the second and only other Spartan to receive the rating of "Hyper-Lethal", has given his life to detonate a slipspace bomb and save reach. But is he truly gone? Somewhat AU. This is my first full fanfic so please do cut me a little slack for any bad writing or unforgiveable errors. Please point out any and let me know. Ohh and please leave it at only constructive criticism. Things like "This story sucks" or "Your an idiot and your writing sucks" do not help me improve. Thanks and enjoy =]**

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**Chapter 1: Prelude**

**Arcturus Stream**

**Arcturus Station**

**April, 11 2183**

Tali'Zorah vas Neema looked around the conference room they were all gathered in. The whole ground team, Joker, and Shepard's mother, Captain Hannah Shepard, were all there waiting work from Admiral Hackett. Garrus and Wrex were off in the corner talking about who knows what, probably weapons or armor or something. How a Turian and Krogan became friends was beyond her. Sitting around the table was Captain Shepard, Liara, Joker, and Kaiden talking about Shepard. Kaiden was telling them some story from when they were in the Sentinel Program together. Then here she was, playing a hand of solitaire on her omni-tool to keep her mind occupied. It had been several weeks since Hackett's ship, the _SSV Kilimanjaro _and a contingent of the 5th Fleet, had rescued them

"Keelah! this is taking too long. Why did Admiral Hackett call us here to wait?" She burst out, unable to bear the suspense anymore. Everyone turned her way with agreeing looks and Garrus spoke up.

"Yea, we've been here for fifteen minutes. Im beginning to wonder if Hackett is ever going to show up." He said, annoyance sounding in his flanged voice. Mid-sentence the door to the room opened and Admiral Hackett walked in. '_Actually trudged would better describe it' _Tali thought to herself closing her game. Hackett looked across the group before him a grim expression breaking his usually stoic exterior.

"Im sorry for being late. I needed time to... prepare everything." He said frowning as his face continually became more grim by the second. "We have scoured the planet from the location of the _Normandy_ all the way to the opposite hemisphere. There is no sign of Commander John Shepard. We... are officially changing his status from MIA to KIA. Captain Shepard, it is with a heavy heart that I present you with this flag and my deepest condolences. Your son was a hell of a soldier and he will be missed greatly."

The reaction from the group was as varied as their species. Garrus just fell back into a chair in disbelief, Joker let his face fall into his hand, Wrex slammed his fist on the table and let out an angry roar, Liara and Kaiden were sitting trying to fight back tears, Tali Just collapsed into the wall and sank to floor. She turned off the speakers on her helmet as she sobbed. In the middle of this hurricane of emotion and loss stood Hannah Shepard, blank expression and reaching toward the flag being offered her. She was living up to her son's name, being the most in control of the whole situation. After an audible gulp she answered.

" Thank you Admiral. He was a stubborn little shit as a kid and even more so as an adult. He was a great soldier and even better son. I swore that I'd never see this day. No parent should have to outlive their child. Even harder that today is his birthday. If I may, I shall take my leave now." She said voice beginning to crack toward the end and tears beginning to well up. Hackett noticeably winced at the oversight that today was Shepard's birthday.

"Of course Captain. You may have as much leave as is necessary." Admiral Hackett said with a sharp salute. Hannah returned one and made her way out of the room clutching the flag presented her. Hackett turned back to the rest of the group. Everyone had calmed from their initial reactions except for Tali, although no one could notice as she had turned off her helmets speakers and was careful as to make no indication as to how hard she was crying. _'He'll never know how I felt about him. I never.. I just never.." _she thought to herself unable to form coherent thoughts.

"I am terribly sorry. I know he was a close friend to all of you. Flight Lieutenant Moreau and Staff Lieutenant Alenko you are to report to Rear Admiral Summers for debriefing and are then granted leave." Hackett said receiving and returning a salute from the two men as they exited. "As for the rest of your four it will be about a day before we can get a ship to return you to your respective peoples. Until then you are guests of the Human Systems Alliance and shall be given temporary quarters aboard the station. Feel free to enjoy the Rec areas."

The team sat in disbelief. They were being sent away after all they had done. After fighting back the geth, saving two colonies, destroying Saren's cloning facility on Virmire with Ashley's sacrificing herself, and saving the Citadel and the Counsel from Sovereign and the Reapers they were just going to be swept under the rug.

"Admiral, sir!" Garrus spoke up causing the admiral to turn around at the door. "Sir, after all we've done were just being sent home? What about the Geth? What about Sovereign and the Reapers?"

The Admiral gave an exasperated sigh, as if he expected this reaction, and scratched at his chin. The Garrus, Wrex, and Liara waited intently on his answer. Tali was still slumped against the wall with her faceplate buried in her knees and arms wrapped around her legs no longer caring what the admiral had to say. All that mattered to her was the fact that the man she had fallen secretly in love with was now gone and he never knew. _'He was always so kind to me. He saved me and the first thing he said was to ask if I was alright. Anyone else would have just called me a "suit rat" and demanded the data I had. He went out of his way and bought me a new shotgun and a top of the line omni-tool! No one else was ever so kind to me.' _She thought as more tears came to her eyes.

"Im sorry but none of you are Alliance. And to add to that, the Council is denying the existence of the Reapers and saying it was combat fatigue causing Shepard to believe Saren's ravings about them. My hands are tied in this situation. The only advice I have to give is to return to your governments and try to prepare them as best as possible." Hackett apologized with a defeated look. Garrus gave a slight nod in agreement and saluted the Admiral. Hackett returned the Salute and exited the room.

"Alright guys let's get out of here." Garrus said taking lead. As they began to head out he noticed Tali still slumped against the wall. "C'mon Tali. Let's get going."

"He's gone.." Was all she could manage as he pulled her up.

"I know Tali. Spirits, I know."

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**Whoo! First Chapter down. Next chapter we move onto Shepard when he wakes up. Hope you guys enjoyed that. Again please point out any errors but mind you that this is a crossover and will be somewhat AU. Again also no comments like "you suck" or "you're terrible" These do not help me improve my writing and fix errors. Thanks for reading and on to Chapter 2! Comment and review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Rebirth

**AN: Alright here goes chapter 2. Onto the awakening of Shepard! I will incorporate Six in later after I get Shepard up and about and doing what he does best! Punching tabloid reporters? well yes ,that too I suppose but I meant saving the galaxy.**

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**Chapter 2: Rebirth**

_Unknown Location_

_April 11, 2185_

"FFFUUUUUUUUUUCK!" He yelled as he shot upright. The last thing Shepard remembered was being spaced while venting air and blacking out as he fell into an unknown planet. The _Normandy_ was destroyed by an unknown cruiser and he didn't know how much of the crew made it off. There was some rumbling in the distance. Then the whole room shook. _'where the fuck am I?' _ Shepard thought to himself as he looked around. He was in some sort of lab. There was medical equipment everywhere and just at the end of the hospital bed he was on was an armor locker next to some cupboards.

"Shepard? Are you awake?" A feminine voice came on over the intercom.

"Well either that or dead. Not sure which is more likely and I'm not sure I wanna know." He said back half sarcastically to ease his fears.

"Yeah you're up." The voice responded dryly, "There's armor and a pistol in the locker hurry up and get it on"

Another explosion rocked the room as Shepard hastily did as he was told. On the door of the locker was a small mirror for him to take a quick look at himself. Caucasian skin tone, but of 5 o'clock shadow, shaved head with a curved scar reaching up into his hair line, just the kind of default features of an American descendant. The only things that stood out where the light blue eyes hinting at a Nordic ancestry and some light scarring on his cheek that glowed an orange-ish color.

"Well that's new." Shepard said as he put on the last of his armor and reached for the M-3 Predator. He frowned when he found there were no thermal clips anywhere. "Hey! Intercom lady! There's no clips for the pistol."

"Then use your biotics." the voice from the intercom quipped back rather angrily as the door to the lab began to glow red. "Get down!"

Shepard dove behind a row of counters between him and the door just as it blew open and a pair of LOKI mechs walked in with raised pistols. Clipping the pistol to his side Shepard popped up and launched a throw field at one of the mechs causing it to smash into the wall, shattering the mech and tearing a hole in the panel. The other mech fired off a few rounds that drained his shields. Shepard activated his tech armor and popped up again launching another throw, this time smashing the mech right through the bullet resistant glass window.

"Damn, my biotics have always been good but never that freakin strong!" Shepard mused out loud as he recovered some thermal clips from the mechs.

"When you were resurrected we made some improvements to your biotics, strength, reaction times, and speed" The intercom lady said again with a hint of pride in her voice. 'What the hell does she mean by improvements?' Shepard thought to himself leaving the room. The next room over looked to be some sort of waiting room with a few benches and a low wall of planters. There were a few mech bodies laying about and a few humans in light armor, one however had an M-100 grenade launcher.

"Haha Score! This is soooo my day!" Shepard yelled as he ran for the grenade launcher. After checking it and making sure it was functional he let it collapse and latch onto the magnetic clamps on his armor. He also grabbed whatever ammo he could off the mercs and heavy weapon ammo crate nearby. After proceeding through the next door, Shepard was on a balcony overlooking some large refueling tanks and a hallway leading to another doorway. Just as he stepped up to the edge another patrol of LOKI mechs entered the lower level through the door. 'Ahh damn it! Let's hope I don't blow everything to hell.' Shepard thought to himself as he took aim at the group of mechs with the grenade launcher and sent off a round that exploded in the middle of the mechs destroying them all. Various bits of shrapnel pierced one of the fuel tanks causing a jet of flame to burst from the hole. Shepard took a nearby cargo lift down to the lower level and was debating about how to get past the wall of flame in front of him when the intercom lady made her return.

"Hurry Shepard!" she barked through the intercom. Shepard took another look at the jet of fire before answering.

"Please do tell, bitchy intercom lady, how them hell am I supposed to get past a wall of fire reading at over three thousand degrees?" He retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I will ignore that comment as this is a life or death situation. The armor your wearing has been upgraded with thermal dispersal conduits allowing it to endure extreme heat up to five thousand degrees for up to three seconds. It should take less than one to jump through." The now pissed intercom lady retorted in a superior tone.

"Well I guess I can add jumping through an inferno to the crazy shit I've done." Shepard muttered to himself as he backed up before making a running jump through the fire. Once on the other side he made his way through the door and down seemingly endless hallways, hacking terminals and PDAs along the way. Along the way the intercom lady's signal cut out leaving him to find his own way out. Finally coming up to another door Shepard heard gunfire and yelling on the other side. He quickly bursts through to see a man of African American descent taking cover behind a low wall at the edge of a balcony, holding off an endless army of mechs on the opposing balcony. Shepard runs up and takes cover next to the man whose eyes light up in surprise at seeing him there.

"Holy shit! Shepard? I didn't think you'd be up yet. If Miranda's got you running around it must be worse than I thought." He said. "Names Jacob Taylor by the way."

"Hey I don't have a clue what's goin on here and who's Miranda?" Shepard asked peeking over at the mechs still firing on them. There were five on the balcony and another coming through the door.

"Ahh yea you did just get up. And Miranda Lawson is the woman on the intercom." Jacob said barely dodging another shot from the mechs. "Listen im a Biotic, so just say the word and ill hit em with the good stuff."

"Okay then, that makes two of us. I'll throw a warp field and you follow with a throw to detonate it and that should take care of the mechs." Shepard said as he peeked up again to appraise the situation. 'Damn I better be careful around this Miranda woman. I have the feeling she'll be pissed at me.' he thought to himself as he launched off a warp field toward the middle mech. Immediately after Jacob followed with his throw causing the unstable warp field to detonate taking out all the mechs and jamming the door with shrapnel and preventing any more mechs from coming through.

"Well now that that's over I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you got." Jacob said as he holstered his pistol. Shepard did the same and turned to get a good look at his new squad mate. He had the fairly normal look of those of African American descent: larger nose, more prominent brow and cheeks. He had a mustache and almost the beginnings of a goatee as well as a really close buzz cut. Although a symbol stood out on his uniform. It was an elongated hexagon with an opening at the bottom flanked on either side by half hexagons sitting slightly lower. Shepard recognized it instantly. Puling his pistol with inhuman speed and jamming it into his face, Jacob was taken completely by surprise.

"Whoa Commander! Calm down!" Jacob said with a panicked look, throwing his hands in the air.

"Now why the fuck would I do that, Cerberus?" Shepard growled with a murderous look in his eyes. He remembered all that the terrorist organization had done. The trap on Akuze, and again on some unmarked planet in the Artemis Tau cluster. The experiments they had performed on innocent people. They had even kidnapped Admiral Kahoku and included him in their sick experiments.

"Ahh damn it. I knew you'd notice who we were eventually. I was going to tell you once we got of this god forsaken station but I guess that's moot now." Jacob said with a defeated look. "Listen Commander, I don't exactly agree with some of Cerberus's methods either but there's something big going on and both the Council and the Alliance are ignoring it. Cerberus is the only one helping. I can't say any more at the moment but I can promise you that we didn't spend over two billion credits and two years just to bring you back and kill you all over again."

What Jacob said shocked Shepard to his core (Something harder and harder to do seeing as he'd killed a mind controlling sentient plant, had a nice chat with the leader of a genocidal machine race about to wipe out all advanced life in the galaxy, and teleported his way into the citadel from the lost planet of Ilos whose location was given to him by a queen of the thought extinct Rachni). Shepard ended up with his gun pointing at Jacob's feet as the revelation washed over him.

"Did you say two years? How bad was it?" Shepard asked, the pain and shock evident in his voice. Jacob lowered his hands and gave a sympathetic look.

"I'll be honest with you. When you came in you were basically meat and tubes. Anywhere else and they would have thrown you in a body bag. But project Lazarus was... different." Jacob said with a tint of regret in his voice for having to convey the horrific news. Shepard let his hands drop to his sides as he clipped the pistol back on his hip. He walked over to the railing and leaned against it, letting the information he was just given sink in. 'Two years? Son of a... What happened to everyone?' Shepard thought to himself.

"What happened to the crew of the _Normandy_?" Shepard asked, the worry showing through his failing poker face. Too many bombs had been dropped on him for one day and it was showing.

"That's a bit of good news. Aside from a few crewmen from the lower decks almost everyone made it off including your whole ground team. As for their whereabouts I really don't know. Kaiden Alenko is on some top secret assignment for the Alliance, Garrus Vakarian and Liara T'soni have completely dropped off the radar, Urdnot Wrex went back to Tchunka, and Tali'Zorah returned to the Migrant Fleet. Aside from that info we haven't been able to track them down. " Jacob said in a cheerful tone hoping that this would help even out the mountain of bad news Commander Shepard had just received. It seemed to work as Shepard cracked a slight smile before becoming serious again.

"Alright then. I don't trust you yet Jacob but you seem like a good man. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Let's get the hell off this station." Shepard said confidently and look around a little lost looking.

"The shuttle bay is through the far door Commander." Jacob said with a slight chuckle.

After wandering through the base for another half hour finding alternate routes to destroyed hallways and jammed doors, Jacob said they were getting close to the shuttle bay.

"Once we go though these server rooms we should be at the docking bay for the shuttles and hopefully Miranda will be there too." Jacob said as Shepard hacked into the door. Once open the two wandered in to find a body that Jacob recognized.

"That was Wilson. He was one of the scientist under Miranda working on Project Lazarus. Looks like the Mechs got him. No idea why he was in here though. He didn't even have clearance." Jacob said contemplating why Wilson was in the server room. In the mean time Shepard saw a med station on the wall and recovered what Medi-Gel he could from it. Two mechs then blasted in the door and began shooting. After a quick firefight both mechs were disabled but Shepard got hit in the shoulder when the mechs jumped them. He quickly applied some Medi-Gel, wincing at the sting of it, and then moved forward. After going through a few more server rooms they entered a hallway with an arrow that pointed right with the label 'Shuttle Bay'.

"Well there we go Jacob. Finally made it. I've had enough of this station to last a lifetime or perhaps two?" Shepard said with a laugh. Jacob just shook his head at the terrible joke and the two moved on. 'Huh, maybe I misjudged this Jacob guy. He's a nice guy and doesn't whole heartedly support Cerberus_._' Shepard thought to himself as they walked down the hall. Once the door opened Shepard saw two mechs in standby mode, they hadn't noticed the two humans walking in. Shepard quickly overloaded on and threw the other. A few more mechs came from a doorway o the side and another group was on the platform of the main waiting area. Jacob and Shepard both dived into cover, pinned down in the cross fire. Both were taking random pot shots over the cover without sticking their heads out. Suddenly a biotic shockwave came from the far end of the waiting area, obliterating the mechs on the upper level.

"What the..? Its Miranda!" Jacob yelled seeing their savior walking along the upper level firing on the mechs below. She wore a skin tight black and white jumpsuit that left VERY little to the imagination. Along with raven black hair and near perfect features, she was striking to say the least. With just a few shots all the mechs on the lower level were taken out as well. 'Beautiful AND deadly. Just great, of course she had to be the one I pissed off.' Shepard thought to himself .

"Shepard! Jacob! If you two are done screwing around down there, I'd like to get the hell off this station." She said curtly. It was obvious that she was used to being the one in charge. After they made it up to the shuttle Miranda turned toward Shepard. "Now then. My employer would like to have a work with you when we get to another, more secure, station."

"You mean the Illusive Man? Yeah I know you work for Cerberus. Im not stupid." Shepard said back irritated at her condescending and superior manner. Also the fact that she just SCREAMED 'Cerberus Cheerleader'. After a short glaring match Miranda finally answered.

"How very... perceptive Commander. Given your history with our organization I figured it would be best to keep that from you until you were able to talk to the Illusive Man yourself. However that will be AFTER we get off this station. So, shall we go?" She said again talking down to him. 'Damn bitch thinks she hot shit since she led this project. I swear if I have to listen to her talk down to me one more time...' Shepard though as he trudged to the shuttle.

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_Cerberus Station_

_April 12, 2185_

"The Illusive Man is waiting for you Commander. Just go right through that doorway and down the stairs." Miranda said as they disembarked the shuttle.

"Okay whatever Cheerleader!" Shepard quipped back using his new, and very hated, nickname for her. This earned a glare that could kill. He made his way through the door and down into an empty room. He was instantly on edge, expecting a trap, when he heard a voice from above. It was Jacob.

"Step on the circle in the center Commander. It's a comm room." He said in his usual cheery tone and added a slight laugh at the end. Still wary but now less certain of it being a trap, Shepard walked onto the circle on the floor. Immediately a holographic grid rose up around him and displayed a room with only a single chair and multiple holo displays. In the background was a huge viewing port that looked out onto a swirling blue star with patches of red. Sitting in the chair was the Illusive Man. Wearing an expensive business suit and smoking a cigarette. Shepard noticed the dull blue glow of his cybernetic eyes.

"Shepard." The Illusive man stated rising nonchalantly from his seat.

"Illusive Man." Shepard said back with a hint of venom. This took the Illusive Man slightly by surprise, however he hid it well.

"Ahh so you know who we are. Quite perceptive of you." TIM returned coolly. That was about the last Shepard would have of people thinking he was an idiot that couldn't notice he was right in the middle of a terrorist organization.

"Really? Ya don't fucking say? Im not so much of an idiot that I cant notice when im in the middle of a terrorist organization. You have thirty seconds to explain why you brought be back before I decide to take up old habits of obliterating Cerberus bases." Shepard yelled right back in the Illusive Man's face. An indignant look crossed TIM's face before he calmed himself and replied.

"There's no need for that Commander. The reason we resurrected you is that human colonies are disappearing and we suspect the Reapers are behind it." He replied coolly, staring right back into Shepard's glare.

"Really now? Im going to need A LOT more convincing than just your word." Shepard said shifting his weight and crossing his arms. TIM took a drag off his cigarette and sat back in his chair.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't. The most recent colony abducted is Freedoms Progress. I have a shuttle standing by to take you along with agents Lawson and Taylor." TIM said leaning back and smashing out the butt of his cigarette in an apparent ashtray in the armrest of his chair. Shepard thought about this for a second before answering.

"Alight then. I'll check this out. However if one little detail of your doesn't check out I'll be right back here to blow this place to hell and back then find all your other hidey holes and leave them smoking ruins." He said as he turned and left the room. Dealing with Cerberus was going to be trying for him. As long as he didn't have to put up with anymore propaganda from Miranda he figured he could make it through this.

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**Aaaand there's chapter two. So I figure Shepard's relations with Cerberus as an organization will stay about the same but He will befriend all the crew (Yes even Ice Queen/Cheerleader Miranda). Next chapter we move onto Six and fun and adventures aboard a Covenant corvette! Comment and review please. **


	3. Chapter 3: Solace's End

**Chapter 3: Solace's End**

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_SDV-class corvette Ardent Prayer_

_August 15, 2552_

"Alright. Showtime." Six mutters to himself as he and a squad of ODSTs jump out of the Sabers they used to board the corvette. The group met up over a grav-lift that descended into what looked to be a control center for the various shuttles and spacecraft the corvette fielded. Six Peeked over the opening seeing several Sangheili, a few Kig-Yar, and a slew of Unggoy monitoring various stations. Six decided now was a good a time as any to see how good his new A.I. tag-along was at hacking systems. All of Noble team had received their own third generation A.I. to assist them in operations against the Covenant.

"Hey Artemis. Could you hack into their systems so we can get an idea of troop strength and movement?" He asked the construct currently residing in his armor and nervous systems.

"To access their whole systems would require a direct interface however I can get sensor data for the room we're currently over and give you a number of hostiles below." A disembodied female voice responded. Six grunted in approval and she got to work. After a few seconds of waiting red silhouettes appeared on Six's HUD. There were three Sangheili, five Kig-Yar, and nine Unggoy all moving about the room below. He came up with a plan on the spot and opened a comm to the ODSTs standing around the opening awaiting orders.

"Alright so there's quite a few contacts below us. Im going to need one grenade from each of you. On my mark all throw one down the hole at a different angle. As soon as they detonate I will drop in and clean up whatever's left and draw their fire. You will wait three seconds and then drop in after me. Any I miss are yours but dont take any chances." Six said and they all took aim with the grenades. "Mark."

With that twelve frag grenades flew into the hole all on different trajectories. There were some shouts of surprise in the Covenant's strange alien language followed by multiple explosions. Six checked his HUD, seeing that there were two Sangheili and a few Unggoy left alive he dropped in DMR at the ready. Once past the upper deck he was previously standing on, Six opened up on the two Sangheili and caught one with its shields down. It dropped instantly. The other whirled on him with a plasma repeater and a few rounds smacked against Six's shields. He dove behind a crate lying on the floor and returned the favor with a few rounds from his DMR and followed up with a plasma grenade he grabbed from a dead Kig-Yar. The combo of explosives and gunfire took out the second Sangheili, all that was left were the shell shocked Unggoy. These were quickly dispatched by the ODSTs as they dropped down just a second later. Six gave the sergeant an approving nod and turned his attention back to getting some information about the ship.

"Alright Artemis, which console links with internal sensors." He asked looking around the upper level of the room. Suddenly a waypoint was flagged on a terminal on the other side of the upper ring. "Okay then."

He walked over to the console and pulled the memory chip housing Artemis out of his helmet and the cool mercury feel of her in his head suddenly with it. He plugged the chip into the console and her avatar popped up beside the holo display. She took the form of a mid twenties young woman with pure white hair in light blue MJOLNIR powered assault armor. She reasoned this appearance as "Well I must look the part of the Goddess of The Hunt." Although she **was** created from the brain of a deceased marine giving her a penchant for either combat armor when in a combat situation or jeans and a hoodie when not. Why she chose to change her avatar depending on the situation was beyond Six.

"Alight im in. It appears that almost all forces are deployed groundside. there is only a token security force we should be able to cut through easily. The difficult part will be the bridge. Im reading a Zealot-class shipmaster and several Ultra-class honor guards. There are also several Ultra-class Unggoy maintaining several stations as well." Artemis said while pulling up the security fed from the bridge. It showed all the enemies she had just listed out for him. He looked at this for a while then deiced on a plan of action.

"Thanks Artemis. Let's get moving and secure the hangar for Jorge." He said and pulled her chip from the console and stuck it back into the slot in his helmet. The mercury cool feeling returned as she again interfaced with his armor and nervous system.

"Anything for you Shaun." She said with a slight giggle at the end knowing how it bugged him when people other than extremely close friends used his name. Six just huffed annoyed and headed out with the ODSTs in tow.

* * *

They breached through yet another door into what looked to be one of the ship's main batteries on the port side. It opened onto an observation platform for the batteries below where some Sangheili and Unggoy managed them. Six was the first through and immediately picked off a Kig-Yar standing on the walkway dumfounded (He guessed, who knew with aliens) with two mugs of some steaming substance. The gunshots alerted the Covenant below, as they whipped around bringing their weapons to bare on the spartan. Six quickly ducked behind the metal railing as a torrent of plasma and Chrystal shards flew towards him. Just as he fell behind the cover the radio crackled on.

"This is UNSC Savannah we are taking too much fire! Requesting assistance!" The operator on the other end yelled frantically. Six peeked up over the cover for a second and saw the frigate out the battery's viewport. It was in bad shape, venting atmosphere and burning from several hull breaches. It could only last a little longer without help. 'Damn im gunna regret this.' He thought to himself. Six jumped out from behind the wall and dropped to the level below right on top of an unfortunate Unggoy. a quick boot to the face ended it as he moved onto the Sangheili in front of him. A quick punch to the face followed by a few rounds from Six's DMR dropped the massive alien. Just as he looked up toward the remaining enemies he noticed several more bursts of plasma fire from the corvettes guns. Each one struck with surgical precision, slicing into the Savannah which then exploded into a brilliant fireball.

"NO!" Six yelled, grabbing the last Sangheili and driving his combat knife deep into its skull. 'No. I failed them...' He thought to himself as he stared out the window to the wreckage of the Savannah. All the ODST's, unsure what to do, stood in silence waiting for the order to move out. Artemis, however, knew exactly what was going through Six's head.

"Shaun, it's not your fault. You did everything you could. They knew the risk of flying cover for this mission and accepted that. They knew that if you didn't succeed they'd be dead anyways, so let's go deliver this bomb and make their sacrifice worth something." The AI said in a consoling voice. They sat there in silence for another minute and just before she got even more worried, he spoke up.

"Thanks Artemis, your right. Let's go get this done." Six said, determined "Alright everyone, let's get to the hangar and secure it for Jorge."

A round of "Aye-ayes" and "Oorahs" sounded from the ODSTs as they headed through the door to the Hangar. They entered into a winding hallway that came to a tee. On the wall was some alien writing and a symbol of a banshee over an arrow pointing left and another unknown symbol to the right. Six cut left and the ODSTs followed. About halfway through this hallway a bemused Artemis came on over Six's helmet speakers.

"Hey, so I noticed you didn't get angry when I used your name. Am I growing on you?" She said with a slight chuckle afterward. Six just shook his head.

"I was preoccupied at the time." Was all he said as the group came up to another large door. Six motioned for everyone to stack up and punched the button. Immediately a hail of plasma and crystalline shards bombarded the doorway. Immediately Six and the ODST's returned just as much fire, taking out a few Unggoy and some Kig-Yar caught in the open of the hangar. Six stepped out of the doorway with his DMR and put a round through an Sangheili's skull as it tried to look over a balcony surrounding the Hangar. Several bursts of plasma snacked against his shields as a Sangheili took a few shots at him as it switched cover. Six spun around an fired off a few shots catching the alien in the leg, causing it to stumble and fall behind a low wall into cover. He quickly primed a grenade and lobbed it over the wall as he dove behind the railing of a ramp. Taking a look around he realized that the rap went up to a balcony above the door he entered through. Making a quick decision he quickly took off up it as several of the ODSTs took his place at the railing. At the top was a lone Unggoy cowering beside a plasma turret. Six quickly dispatched the whimpering creature with a boot to the face and took a hold of the turret spraying the other side of the hangar with plasma. The barrage of fire quickly dropped all of the Unggoy and Kig-Yar as they scrambled for better cover and a few of the Sangheili that were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the right time. The ODSTs on the lower level took care of the last few Sangheili trying to run through the opposite door.

"All hostiles neutralized. Jorge you're clear to bring her in." Six said over the operation comm line. After a few seconds, a pelican with the jury-rigged bomb attached to its hard points flew in. As it settled down in the middle of the hangar the bay door opened up and Jorge, accompanied with another squad of ODSTs exited with enough ordinance to take on a covenant armada. Six appraised the vast array of weapons and equipment before him but settled on an armor lock module and he also took an M45 shotgun to compliment his DMR.

"Alright, everyone ready?" He said, locking the shotgun to the magnetic clamp on his back. All the ODSTs gathered up before him but Jorge just stayed leaning against the bomb.

"Six, im going to stay here and defend this position. You take one squad with you and the other will stay with me to provide support fire from the balcony. " Jorge said while pointing to the balcony above the door to the bridge. Six nodded at this and waved on his squad.

* * *

The fight for the bridge had been a quick but brutal affair as the shipmaster had an energy sword that sliced two of the ODSTs in half. Six quickly ran over and grappled with the Sangheili, trying to wrestle away the sword. After a few minutes, he managed to get a kick in on it's hand sending the hilt skittering across the floor. Six capitalized on the momentary opening in his opponent's defenses and drove his knife deep into the Sangheili's chest and swept its feet out from under it. He finished off the shipmaster with a knee to the face as he dropped down to retrieve his knife.

"Okay Shaun, we need to get this boat on a refueling course to that carrier. I've marked the console for you." Artemis said over his helmet's speakers. 'Huh, she did have a point. she is growing on me.' Six thought to himself as he walked over to the console and stuck Artemis's chip in.

"Okay all done." She said as he retrieved her and stuck the chip back into its port.

"Hey Six, it's getting kind of hot on my end. Could I get some Assistance?" Jorge said over the comm, sounds of battle in the background.

"On our way Jorge. Just hang on a little longer." Six said and motioned for his squad to join up.

* * *

Six jogged through the doorway into the hangar only to be greeted with an all out firefight. Jorge was at the nose of the pelican suppressing enemy fire with his M247H as the ODSTs picked them off with precision fire with DMRs. Six immediately waded into the thick of it with Jorge and motioned his squad to join the other ODSTs. He grabbed the M45 and began annihilating Unggoy and Kig-Yar that tried to get away from the oncoming Spartan. A roar was heard to the left and Six spun around putting a combat load point blank into a Sangheili's chest. Jorge was right behind him laying a stream of fire all across the hangar, killing anything unfortunate enough to get in its way. After only a few seconds the hangar was clear of hostiles and they all regrouped at the pelican.

"Alright everyone. Pile on and strap down this will be a bumpy ride out." Jorge said to the ODSTs and turned back to Six.

"We have a problem." Six said "The bomb's detonator is fried. One of us is gunna have to stay behind. Thankfully the pelican is fine though. You should go, they need you down there. It's your home and you need to save it."

"Six..." Jorge began before getting cut off. Six held up a hand and shook his head.

"No. Your going and I'm staying, even if I have drag you into that pelican myself... Tell em to make it count." Six said pushing Jorge into the pelican. He nodded as the bay door began to close. Just before it finished closing Six ripped off his dog tags and tossed them to Jorge. He caught the tags and tucked them into a pouch on his waist.

"Good luck." He said just before the door finished closing. The last glimpse Jorge got of Noble Six was him just about to take his helmet off and turning toward the bomb.

* * *

**There's chapter three and a look at Six. From this point on the story is primarily going to follow him but we will get blurbs of Shepard doing his thing. Any suggestions on which missions should be Shepard only or Six only will be welcomed. As always review and comment =]**


	4. Chapter 4: Progress

**AN: Alright everyone Im finally back. Im really sorry about the long wait on this chapter. Life has kinda kicked my ass... a lot... ANYways heres chapter 4 and ive decided that im going to split the view point with more Shepard for obvious reasons. Im going to follow through with a romance arc for both Shepard and Six. Ill try to get more chapters up as soon as i can but theres a ton of stuff going on and i dont really have alot of time to write**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Progress**

_SDV-class corvette Ardent Prayer_

_August 15, 2552_

Six stood there as the pelican exited the hangar, holding his helmet at his side. "Good luck" were the last words Jorge said to him. 'Heh like I need luck to push a button.' Six thought to himself as he walked over to the makeshift bomb. Just as he sat down against it a voice came from his helmet's speakers.

"Shaun you should really put your helmet back on." Artemis said. She knew they both were going to die but she would be damned if she didn't at least try. " I have an idea if you hurry."

"What have you concocted now?" Six asked with slight amusement as he did as he was told.

"If you can grab some of the shield generators off those Sangheili I could jury rig them to boost your shields temporarily and over power the armor lock. It is feasible that we MIGHT survive." She said. Six nodded and gathered as many of generators as he could off the dead Sangheili. In the end he only had four working ones.

"This should be enough. I'll walk you through how to do this." Artemis said. She walked him through how to do it and they finished just in time before the corvette docked for refueling.

"Okay, hit the button then take a step back and activate you armor lock. Hopefully these upgrades will hold long enough." She said running the statistics of survival again for the billionth time.

"So what exactly are the odds we live to joke about this?" Six asked just before he hit the button.

"Honestly? it's one in one billion." Artemis said reluctantly. Six just gave a slight laugh and pressed the button.

"Well, worst case is that were dead." He said and activated his armor lock. He saw a blinding light just before blacking out.

* * *

_Cerberus shuttle en route to Freedoms Progress_

_April 13, 2185_

"Man that was the sleaziest damn motel I've ever had to stay in." Shepard Complained. Their brief stay on Omega had been one of the most unpleasant nights Shepard had since basic. The owner of the motel had charged them three times the rent only because he hated humans and everywhere else was full. On top of that, the room they were given had one twin bed and was beyond disgusting. The place looked like a snuff film had been filmed in it and then left to fester for a few days. The actual blood stains didn't help paint a prettier picture. After a constantly interrupted night of sleep thanks to gunfire and the constant bass of a nearby club the trio checked out and made their way back onto the cramped shuttle. Needless to say they were all in a bad mood.

"Its Omega Shepard, what did you expect?" Miranda asked, in her usual 'holier-than-thou' tone. Even though she refused to admit it, she hated Omega just as much if not more than the rest of the group. Even just the air made her feel contaminated.

"Well it's done and over with everyone. Let's just forget it and get on with the mission." Jacob piped up trying to ease he ten

"We have two hours to kill, Jacob" Shepard reminded him.

"Well, so we do. How about you tell us about yourself commander?" Jacob asked. Miranda just harrumphed and leaned back into her seat.

"Well dont you have my records? I thought Cerberus had vast connections." Shepard said with a laugh.

"Actually Commander all we have is some low classification intel and public knowledge." Jacob said and looked expectantly at the Commander.

"Alright then. Well I suppose you guys already know that im a spacer kid, probably about that situation on Akuze and my role in the Blitz. More recently was the whole Saren affair, man that was a nasty piece. Losing Ash to that was really hard but I'll be able to get past it. As for myself, I prefer older music. Like way old, im talkin twentieth, twenty-first century. If it doesn't have a guitar it's not good music. " Shepard said "If you didn't notice I definitely dont hold any prejudices against aliens, like **some **organizations."

Shepard gave a pointed glare at Miranda when he finished speaking. She just huffed and turned her attention to her omni-tool. Jacob on the other hand decided to speak up.

"It's not that Cerberus harbors anti-alien sentiment, it's just pro-human. Sadly a lot of people seem to lot one with the other. While yes I'll admit that some of our organization may have those feelings so does your Alliance. Personally I have no problem with anyone due to their race, only their actions." He said compellingly.

"Heh, Ya know Jacob I think we're going to get along quite well. A shame that it was Cerberus that picked you up and not me." Shepard said with a smile that was quickly followed with a yawn. "And on that note I think Imma try and make up some lost sleep. I'll tell ya the rest sometime. Wake me when we get there."

* * *

"Priorities Commander?" Jacob asked as the shuttle was touching down on Freedoms Progress. Shepard though on this for a moment and quickly came up with a plan.

"Well seeing as all the other colonies abducted haven't had any survivors or even dead, I'm going to say that we should focus on finding any type of surveillance we can. But if there's even the slightest hint someone's still alive that becomes the priority. I dont want anyone left behind on this planet." He said, popping open the hatch to the shuttle. Miranda and Jacob nodded in agreement and followed Shepard out of the shuttle.

The group made their way through several pre-fab buildings each with their own scene abruptly interrupted. One house had a half eaten dinner lying on the table and another had the TV still on with several child's toys laying about on the floor. The abandoned feeling was beginning to wear on their nerves. The whole place felt wrong.

"Damn, it's like everyone just got up and left." Jacob muttered as they past yet another half eaten dinner.

"I know what you mean. I just hope we can find what we need and get out of here quick." Shepard said. He walked over to the back door which exited into another alleyway that led further into the compound. As the team made their way out the door several LOKI mechs popped up on a balcony on the adjacent complex of buildings.

"Contact front!" Shepard yelled and took aim with his pistol. A few quick shots from everyone and the mechs were destroyed. Another group came from the bridge connecting the two complexes, this time it was a mix of FENRIS and LOKI mechs. Shepard grabbed one of the FENRIS mechs and slammed it back onto the bridge, crushing it. Miranda and Jacob each let off a throw and followed with a few shots taking out the other FENRIS and a few LOKI mechs. Shepard finished off the last mech with a shot clean through its 'head'.

"Those mechs should have recognized us as human. They must have been reprogrammed. I think someone is still here Shepard" Miranda said with Jacob nodding in agreement.

"Has to be that. Okay so new priority is to find who reprogrammed the mechs. Let's keep moving to the center of the colony and then work our way from there." Shepard said and indicated for them to follow him into the next complex.

Shepard opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him was an all too familiar hooded figure. However before he could say anything several Migrant Fleet Marines jumped to their feet, weapons drawn.

"Stop right there!" The one in a matt black suit yelled. Immediately Shepard, mostly out of reflex, and his group also brought their weapons to bear.

"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this. Sh-Shepard?" Tali said as she almost tackled him in a hug. "We though you died! How? Why are you here with Cerberus? What happened?"

She disentangled herself from him looked at him with a worried expression. Even though he couldn't see her face through the mask, her body language spoke volumes as to how worried she was. He motioned for Jacob and Miranda to lower their weapons. Thankfully Prazza and his squad did as well.

"I.. I was dead Tali." Shepard said reluctantly, "Cerberus did.. something, and brought me back. They said that human colonies are being abducted and wanted me to investigate. I still dont trust them but as much as I hate it, they are actually doing something good this time. At least it seems so."

"Oh, Keelah."She said, bringing her hands up to her mouthpiece. It was a few moment before she spoke up again. "That's horrible. I couldn't even imagine. Are you okay?"

"Better than ever!" Shepard said with a slight laugh, trying to lighten the mood "Whatever they did when they brought me back improved my biotics and it seems everything else as well. Harder, better, faster, stronger eh? And on top of that Im no longer dead, so.. ya know."

"Well at least your sense of humor hasn't changed." Tali said with a slight giggle toward the end. Prazza took the break in conversation to, not so eloquently, cut in.

"What is Cerberus doing here?" He demanded, hands twitching over his rifle.

"We're WELL within our rights to investigate a human colony. What are you Quarians doing here?" Miranda shot back with a brutal glare as she reached for her pistol.

"Guys, calm the hell down. I know for a fact that Tali and her group have nothing to do with this Miranda. And, Prazza was it? Chill out. I have these two on a leash." Shepard said forcefully, stepping between the two. He looked over at Tali for an explanation as to why they were there.

"Were looking for a Quarian, Veetor, on his pilgrimage. He thought helping a small colony would be best, always hated big crowds." She said. Before she could continue, Prazza decided to add in his own opinion.

"Meaning he's unstable, couple that with damage to his suits CO2 filters and an infection from an open air exposure he's likely delirious." He stated a little too aggressively for Shepards liking.

"Okay fine then. Let's work together and get him back home." Shepard said pulling up a map of the colony. "Now do you guys know where he's holed up?"

Tali pointed to a warehouse in the middle of the colony "Yea, he's locked himself away in this warehouse in the middle of the colony. He's also programmed the mechs to shoot anything on site. We'll have to work together to get through them."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Gotta say you're far from the innocent young girl I saved in that alley." Shepard said with a wide grin. "Alright let's move out."

* * *

Six slowly came to on the hangar floor. Every part of his body ached but he was alive, or so he thought. Looking around he noticed that the bomb was nothing more than a pile of slag and most of the floor surrounding where he stood was scorched.

"Hey Artemis? You still there?" He asked, taking stock of what was left around the hangar.

"Yea, im still here. That was a fun one. Don't ya think?" The AI quipped back in a chipper tone that caused a groan from Six.

"You not the one that aches everywhere." He complained, " Can you use the ships systems to tell where we are?"

"I might but I'll need a hard connection. not wireless. The navigation systems will be back in the bridge. However be warned that from the information that I am getting the ship is barely holding together." Artemis said as Six took off for the bridge. The trek there was short and uneventful as the slipspace bomb had killed any covenant they had missed on the first trip. Once there an objective point popped up over a terminal towards the middle of the bridge. Six popped Artemis's chip out of its slot in his helmet and inserted it into the console.

"What... No. This can't be right. There's no way that's possible." She half-muttered to herself.

"What? What's going on?" Six asked hurriedly. '_What the hell is going on that Artemis is freaking out?' _He thought to himself.

"I dont know how, but we're above Reach. Only it's not. The landmass is exactly the same but there is no evidence of settlement. Almost like no one has even been here." She said brining up an image of the planet. Somehow it actually was Reach, not that he doubted the AI.

"Okay. We can deal with where we are and how later. What's the condition of the ship?" Six asked, attempting to form a plan.

"Well it looks like the ship itself is toast. Engines are destroyed, structural integrity is at twelve percent, all weapons are offline and it looks like that chunk of supercarrier came with us. It's currently breaking into pieces and falling into the planets gravity and we're soon to follow. I am reading an operational Seraph in a storage bay. I'll transfer it to the Hangar then we can get the hell off this ship." She explained "Pull me and lets go."

Six yanked her out of the console and made his way back to the hangar. Once there, a pristine looking Seraph fighter was sitting in the middle of the hangar. He quickly popped open the hatch and climbed inside its surprisingly spacious interior. One look at the controls and Six knew that it was beyond him.

"Uhh, hey, Artemis? Could you help me fly this thing. This is entirely different from a Sabre." He said eyeing the alien controls.

"Okay. Plug me in and I'll brief you on what does what." Artemis said and highlighted the appropriate data port for him. After a short overview of the controls, Six had them down enough to exit the ship and make their way down to the planet.

"Okay now that were down here, what do we do?" Six asked his AI companion who was still digging through the ships systems.

"Well there's a survival kit in that compartment on the bottom to your left and I full well intend to comb through every piece of coding this ship has. Then we can use the FTL to hopefully hop our way to some kind of civilization." She said "Now go set up that shelter, I'll be busy for a while."

* * *

"Shepard! Get your squad into position and I'll open the loading bay door!" Tali yelled, frantic, over the comms. Things had gone to hell shortly after their groups separated. Prazza had decided to ignore orders and rushed off ahead to steal Veetor, and any clues, out from under them. In their rush, they ran straight into a YIMR heavy mech Veetor had guarding the warehouse he was in. They never stood a chance in hell against that kind of firepower.

"Miranda! Jacob! Stack up on either side of the door. Okay Tali, open it now!" Shepard said and waited for the door to open. The sight that greeted them almost made him wish he hadn't opened it. The Quarians were being absolutely destroyed. Two were thrown several meters as the mech swung its arm. Another was caught under foot and crushed. He clawed and smashed futilely at the mech's foot before it unloaded its heavy MG right into his face. Two more tried to dash to better cover in a small office building but were caught halfway there by a missile. One Quarian was missing an arm while the other was blown completely in half. Thankful, Shepard noticed Tali was already hiding in the building helping the few others from her squad that made it.

"Miranda! Sabotage its shields. Jacob load up them incendiaries you have and get into cover." Shepard shouted, storming though the bay to a large stack of crates. Jacob was right next to him, almost finished setting his shotgun to incendiary rounds. Miranda shot off an overload and dove behind some crates to the right. The mech whirled around just in time to be smacked with Miranda's overload, draining its shields to half. Shepard wasted no time and immediately opened up with his assault rifle, keeping the pressure on. After a few seconds bullets started impacting the mechs armor itself.

"Miranda! Warp on three!" Shepard yelled as he flanked the mech "One. Two . Three!"

Both the ex-spectre and the operative shot off powerful warps that ate through the armor plating on the mech in seconds. Both of the biotic fields met in the middle and detonated in a spectacular fireworks display.

"Okay. Let's go see if Tali needs any help then we'll go have a talk with this Veetor." Shepard said as he walked back down to his squadmates who stupidly hadn't moved during the whole firefight. '_Damn mech could've flanked them if it had better programming_' he fumed to himself.

"Commander I must..." Miranda started before getting shut down by Shepard.

"Miranda, shut the hell up. Im going to see if everyone's okay. Either get with the program or you can stay on this damn colony." He said, giving her a stare that has given Krogan shivers. Needless to say, she quieted instantly.

Shepard and squad cautiously stepped into the building Tali had taken the wounded remnants of her squad into. The sight that met them was grisly at best. Almost all the Marines had more than a few holes in them and several had clearly perished. Tali and one of the less wounded were franticly applying Medi-gel, high strength antibiotics, and makeshift suit patches to those that couldn't.

"Hold still. Let me finish with the Medi-gel and antibiotics then I'll get these holes patched." Tali commanded sounding hollow. The tone and body language was not lost on Shepard. He had been right where she was, Ash, his squad on Akuze.

"There, done." Tali said standing up from the injured Marine. A weak "Thank you." was heard before she turned around. "Shepard. Now would be your chance to talk to Veetor. I have to keep looking over my squad."

"Im not going anywhere until we've done all we can. Jacob, start helping with suit patches and see about using our stock of dextro meds. Miranda, help how you can." Shepard said to his squad and walked over to Tali. "C'mon, lets step out. Jacobs a good man and some of them still in there can hold a pistol."

"I... I trust you Shepard." Tali managed to get out and quietly followed him out the door. Shepard crashed down on the steps and gestured for her to sit next to him.

"It's alright Tali. It's not your fault." Shepard said as soon as she settled down next to him.

"But it is. I was put in charge, Im responsible for them and I failed. Half of my squad is dead and half of those still alive will be lucky if they make it through till the e-vac ship makes it." She said staring to choke on her words toward the end. He couldn't stand to see her like this, so broken and lost. It reminded Shepard too much of himself after Akuze.

"It's okay Tali. You dont need to be strong for me. Let it out." Shepard said wrapping his arms around her. She immediately fell into them and began sobbing. "You did everything you could Tali. They disobeyed orders, took off when it wasn't safe. You tried to stop them and they didn't listen. All that happened is on their shoulders, on Prazza's shoulders. I know you feel like it's your fault but it isn't, and even if it was things happen on the battlefield. Things you can't control and people die. With Ash on Virmire. Even though she volunteered, I still left her there to die and I am accepting that. I saved all who I could. As much as go back though it and try to find a way that I could have saved everyone, there isn't one. It's in the past and I cant change what happened. I can only be glad about those I did save and you are one of them. You want to know something? That fact is what keeps me going when I feel like I failed. I saved **you**. I saved Kaiden, Wrex, Liara, Garrus, Joker, Kirrahe and his men. Those men and women in there will make it. They are marines, stubborn as hell. So take heart in the fact they get to go home to their families and friends and push on for those who didn't."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes as Tail's sobs became quieter and finally stopped. Slowly, almost to the point of reluctance, they pulled apart and stared at each other in silence for a second.

"Thank you Shepard. I.. You have no idea how much that means to hear that from you. You can always pick me up when im like this." Tali finally said with a bit more strength "So knowing that saving me is one of the things that keeps you going?"

"Yeah it is Tali. You are one to the closest people to me right now and this little sense of normal in all this was really needed. I can't even message my mother in case she's somehow linked with Cerberus." Shepard confessed, "To be honest I'm kinda scared Tali. I dont know what Cerberus did to me. I dont know how they brought me back and when they did everything's different, not terribly so, but enough to know that I've been gone for TWO years. But I have to power through, be the stoic commander, be the strong one. Im sorry to lay all that on just after this. We should be checking on things."

"Shepard, please, you are always there for me. I will always be here for you, to listen or whatever you need. I know things will turn out okay and then you can cut ties with Cerberus. But you're right, we should go see how things are." Tali said standing up. The two walked back into the building to find all of the Quarians stable and resting.

"Commander. I used up all the dextro meds we brought with us, but I feel confident that they will all make it. We should really see about that Veetor fellow now." Jacob said wiping off purple tinted blood from his hands. "Miranda is a damn fine doctor by the way. Honestly the reason why half these men are here is because of her."

"I suppose that I should thank you both then. However dont think that this has changed my opinion of Cerberus." Tali said throwing a glare at Miranda.

"Will you be alright here while we go check on Veetor?" Shepard asked Tali. She looked over the injured Quarians and knelt down checking each one of their vitals.

"Yeah, I'll be alright and once im done here I'll be right behind you." Tali said while going over her omni-tool.

* * *

Shepard motioned for Miranda and Jacob to stack up on the door before opening it. He quickly jumped through, Predator in hand, and scanned the room. Both squadmates right behind him covering his blind spots. Directly in front on the other side of the room was Veetor going through security footage and various readings from throughout the colony.

"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No Monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no." He was muttering to himself, totally unaware of the squads presence.

"Veetor?" Shepard asked tentatively. _'Gotta be careful here. Dont know how he's going to react.' _"Hey, Veetor?"

The Quarian still continued muttering to himself, still oblivious to Shepard's presence. _'Well looks like I'll have to do something drastic to get his attention.' _Shepard thought to himself. On a whim he pulled up one of the hacking programs he borrowed from Tali all those years ago and shut down the wall of screens. Veetor stared at them confused for a second before getting out of the chair and addressing them.

"You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?" He asked, still sounding dazed. As if it was all a dream.

"Who didn't find us?" Miranda asked a little more forcefully than Shepard would have liked. _'Man, for someone who supposedly rebuilt me, she definitely lacks tact.' _He thought.

"Miranda. Back off. You're gunna make things worse. I'll take it from here." Shepard commanded and turned back to Veetor. "Who are you talking about Veetor? We just arrived here from off planet."

"The... The monsters. You dont know. You didn't see, but I see everything. " Veetor said while pulling up some security feed. An insect like alien was pushing what looked like a levitating chrysalis through the streets of the colony. All the while a swarm of small flying insects was buzzing everywhere in the vid. Occasionally obscuring the image.

"My god? Is that a collector?" Miranda blurted out.

"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked, feeling left out on intel.

"They are a race hailing from beyond the Omega 4 relay. As far as anyone knows they are the only one who can traverse it safely. Reports are that they venture beyond every now and then 'collecting' some obscure piece of technology or trading some of their own for various specimen. Back in the alliance we had them flagged as dangerous but not a threat. Obviously that has changed." Shepard said deep in thought.

"Clearly, now grab the Quarian and lets go. The Illusive Man needs this Data." Miranda said, glancing around the room to make sure they were the only ones in there. Just as she said this however the warehouse door opened and Tali walked on it.

"What?! There's no way you're taking him! Veetor is injured and needs treatment, not an interrogation!" Tali about yelled, fuming.

"It's okay Tali. Veetor is going with you." Shepard said allaying her fears "Could you just foreward me his Omni-tool data?"

"Thank you Shepard, it's nice to know that you're still the one giving orders." Tali said walking over to Veetor. "C'mon Veetor, let's go home where it's safe. Alright?"

"Yes… yes. Safe.." Veetor muttered to himself as he followed Tali out. Shepard watched the pair leave before turning back to his squad.

"Well that went well, I think." He said beaming "I know Tali is alright, we know who's behind the abductions, and we are going to get all of Veetor's data."

"Is there something we should know Commander?" Miranda said with poison in her voice as Jacob just snickered in the background.

"Not at all, cheerleader." Shepard quipped back. "Actually you two go bring the shuttle round. There are a few things I need to do first."

He took off out the door without so much as a backwards glance at the two confused Cerberus operatives.

* * *

Tali collected Veetor and was on her way back into the building where the remnants of her squad was recovering when Shepard came running up behind her.

"Hey Tali!" He shouted jogging up beside her.

"Shepard!" She said surprised at his chasing her down "Veetor go on in and talk to Han'Shael."

'_Why did he chase me down? Is something wrong? Is he going to say something about earlier? That he can't be friends with me? No, no. It's probably just to get the data.' _Her thoughts raced through her head as she turned back to him. "What do you need Shepard?"

"Heh, don't sound so nervous Tali. I just wanted to give you the code for my new Omni-tool so we can keep in touch. I've missed a lot and I was hoping we could catch up." He said with a goofy grin. _'He wants to talk! With me! Yes!' _Tali thought to herself as she awkwardly brought up her Omni-tool.

"Yes. Of course, I'd love to catch up with you Shepard." She said, a grin of her own forming behind her mask.

"Thanks. I gotta go now but I'll send you a message as soon as I can." Shepard yelled as he jogged off to the Cerberus shuttle touching down in the courtyard.

"Okay! Ill be waiting!" Tali yelled back and walked into the building to join her squad.

* * *

"Ah, Shepard. Excellent work on Freedoms Progress. The Quarians forwarded the data from Veetor's Omni-tool. There wasn't any new data, but given our history it's a surprising olive branch." TIM said, again pompously sitting in his 'throne' as Shepard had dubbed it. "It's not necessarily how I would have handled things, but it worked out all the same."

"It pays to have friends in the galaxy." Shepard shot back, already annoyed with the debriefing. "But, ya know, I suppose terrorists don't exactly play nice."

"We would be able to garner more friends if your Council and Alliance hadn't decided to so readily smear us with such a damning reputation. However this is an argument for another time. The important thing is that you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions." TIM said, redirecting the conversation. '_Yea, tell that to Admiral Kahoku or all your other victims.' _Shepard thought to himself.

"So, you knew about them already then?" Shepard accused, crossing his arms and shifting his weight back.

"The Collectors are enigmatic at best, besides you needed to see for yourself. Otherwise I find it hard to believe you'd still be standing here." TIM said coolly. _'Damn. He's right. Well might as well use his resources while I can.' _Shepard decided to himself.

"So, what are you holding back? I'm here and I'm convinced; that's my end of the deal so far. What about you? How do you know the Reapers are involved?" Shepard demanded.

"I'm glad to see I've brought you to our side on this commander. As for the Reapers? The patterns are there in the data. Also the fact that the collectors are the only ones able to pass through the Omega 4 relay unharmed seems to point toward Reaper involvement." TIM explained in his vague manner. _'well it will have to be good enough. Collectors are now a threat regardless of reaper involvement.' _

"Well if you expect me to take down these Reaper puppets I'll need a team, and a damn good one at that. The one condition is that I choose who's on it. I need people I can trust." Shepard demanded.

"I'm already one step ahead of you on that one. I've compiled a list of dossiers consisting of scientists, mercenaries, and soldiers. Finding and convincing them to work with you may be a challenge but I'm sure you are more than capable." TIM said, shifting in his chair and lighting another cigarette.

"Feel free to foreward it but I'm going after my original team. They were friends and followed me into hell once already. They would trust me again." Shepard said, determined to remain defiant.

"I'm not so sure about that Commander. It's been two years. They almost all have moved on or their allegiances have changed. If you insist on tracking them down, be my guest. Just do it on your own time." TIM said, a warning tone creeping in for the last part.

"Okay, fine. They aren't available." Shepard said, deflating at the inevitability of getting all of them back together.

"Trust me Commander, you'll get the people you need. You are a leader. People are drawn to your banner, and if you win their loyalty there's nothing they won't do for you." TIM reassured "Now two things before you go: First go find Mordin Solus on Omega. He's a brilliant scientist and should be able to find a counter measure to the Collector seeker-swarms."

"Already giving me orders?" Shepard interrupted. At this The Illusive Man merely shook his head and continued.

"No, Commander. I'm merely giving you direction. As for the second, I think I've found a pilot you might like. I hear he's the best in the business." He said before cutting the line. Shepard stood there annoyed and confused as to what The Illusive Man meant until a very familir voice came from behind him. "Shepard?"

* * *

**AN: Alright and there is chapter 4. Obvious hints as to Shepards LI and hopefully a little more fleshing out of the various characters (I know Miranda and Jacob didnt really get alot but they will later. This was mostly about Shepard running into Tali again). Hope you all enjoy and please review =]**


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